Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 124
04/05/2006 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB386 | |
| HB328 | |
| HB464 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 464 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 328 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 386 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 464-WANTON WASTE OF BIG GAME CO-CHAIR RAMRAS announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 464, "An Act relating to the possession of the edible meat of big game animals." REPRESENTATIVE ERIC CROFT, Alaska State Legislature, Sponsor of HB 464, said he grew up hunting and learned to salvage as much of the animal as possible. He said most hunters do that, but some trophy hunters don't use the meat. There are laws with strict penalties to deal with that, but hunting is remote activity, and it is difficult to catch someone who is wasting meat. He said there is not enough enforcement as well. It is difficult in the Kotzebue area, and it has created a lot of tension, and the bill came from his visits to these areas. 2:55:51 PM REPRESENTATIVE CROFT suggesting using the antlers to enforce good meat salvage practices, by confiscating the trophy if an insufficient amount of meat comes out of the field. If it is done right, it will be much easier to enforce. Instead of having a trooper in every other field, one only needs to check when hunters come in from the field. The current wanton waste laws have a complicated series of proofs. Excuses like transportation problems and predators are difficult to prove. But it would be simple to establish certain standard: if a hunter doesn't have half the meat, he or she can't have the horns. He said it would be difficult to write a rule that would apply from Ketchikan to Kotzebue. He has provided varying degrees of specificity, from requiring a set amount of meat to allowing the Alaska Board of Game to set salvage requirements. 2:58:04 PM REPRESENTATIVE CROFT said he wants the board to make regulations where appropriate. He said without the required meat, no one will need to hear any excuses. He said he has hunted all his life and only once did a grizzly bear get part of an elk. 2:59:03 PM REPRESENTATIVE CROFT spoke of four hunters coming into Kivalina with 5 antlers from caribou and moose, and they had two medium- sized game bags of meat. Villagers stopped them. The hunters obviously didn't eat it on the way down, and the villagers were mad. There was almost a fight. He said it happens over and over in the Kotzebue area and elsewhere. He said he would like a concept of developing a concept of using the desire for the trophy as a tool for less wanton waste. 3:00:25 PM REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked if hunters have to go to a trooper and show the horn or antlers and the meat. REPRESENTATIVE CROFT said no; but the Board of Game can figure out how it will be done. The concept is to keep the antlers and the meat until arriving home to process the meat. He said enforcement could catch them at the airport or anywhere hunters were in transport. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX said there is a limit of troopers, so how would the hunters get caught? REPRESENTATIVE CROFT said there are many ways, but one solution would be to have a trooper in the Kotzebue airport. Currently, a trooper would have to fly to the kill site; it would be a criminal burden of proof. For true wanton waste, the state can take a person's plane, he said. The bill will not weaken the protections, but the times when it can't be proved, the hunter will not get the horns. He said it is a no-fault deal. Maybe a grizzly did get it, but the person will lose the trophy, and will not be thrown in jail. 3:03:59 PM CO-CHAIR SAMUELS agreed with the concept. He said currently a hunter must salvage the meat and asked how the law works now if a bear takes the meat. He said he has seen hunters that didn't get picked up in Kodiak for five days due to weather and the meat was spoiled. He asked if the hunters would have to bring in the spoiled meat. 3:06:13 PM REPRESENTATIVE CROFT said if the meat was bagged and a bear took it, that would be a defense to the wanton waste statute. He said exceptions can make a rule unfair. He said the Board of Game is struggling with the regulation of transporters, and this would be a more market-based approach-a conservative approach. "I'm not going to over-regulate you, but if you bring hunters out without...we are going to take their horns and we're going to put a list of transporters and who's horn we've seized..." He said transporters are carrying more than is allowed, "and you could either mandate the number of clients they could have or you could simply say 'you better check on your clients because they're going to be really mad if you leave them in the field too long and they lose their trophy'". 3:07:31 PM JOE KLUPSCH, Alaska Professional Hunters Association, said, in concept, he would support any regulation or action by the Board of Game to deal with wanton waste. The Big Game Commercial Service Board has discussed reporting requirements and the amount of meat removed from the field. The board has had testimony from Kotzebue and other areas. He is curious about the public safety enforcement position on the bill. He said there are current regulations that allow a trooper in the field to cite a hunter for wanton waste, but there aren't enough troopers. Wanton waste has extenuating circumstances, but too often there is simply an excuse to leave meat. A trooper must get to the site in time because ravens and bears work fast, he said. His only potential reservation is that a person without meat is presumed guilty. He said he would like the board to address it and doesn't like the legislature dictating to the board. He said everyone wants to eliminate deliberate wanton waste, which is a big problem. He said his board is working on bringing transporters into the issue. [HB 464 was held over]
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